Mt Leinster Challenge

ROK ON

Who's in.

ROK ON

Who's in. Weather not looking great.
Did it for first time last year and loved it.

seamus

I'm in. Promises to be cold and showery.

lennymc

Ill be watching ulster try to mount a leinster challenge. does that count?

sy

Hope to be there. Have to say hello ROK ON

AstraMonti

I am in.

daragh_

Grrrr. Real life got in the way. Enjoy.

Eamonnator

Onestephbeyond and I are doing this. I did the short version last year, going for the 140 this year.

The tax man

Down for the 100k, though I still need to get my licence from rottenhat.
It'll be the furthest I've cycled so far this year. Managed a flat 80k last weekend. 100k with a dirty great lump in the middle this weekend.....progress.:pac:

treborm

Doing the 140, first timer, what hills in Wicklow are similar to mount Leinster, to give me an idea of what kind of suffering I have to look forward to.

smcclaw

I'll be along alright.

Hadn't seen the forecast but based on my spin tonight starting in sunshine, hail in the middle and rain to wash me on the way home (headwinds seemed to be the only constant!) I'll be wearing 4 seasons of gear

Surveyor11

Yep, I'm in. The suffering I think will be nothing compared to the Etape. Great preparation for the pain ahead!

g0g

I'll be there! Given the mention of bad weather I'll be struggling to decide between dirtying my lovely new shiny bike (which hasn't even seen a dry road yet!) or lugging the hybrid around the course!

polariz

I missed the sign-on cut-off. Anyone got an entry they're not going to use?

g0g

polariz wrote: »

I missed the sign-on cut-off. Anyone got an entry they're not going to use?

Try sending a pm to lennymc - think he might be selling his one.

lennymc

yeah - i have a mt leinster entry available for sale. really enjoyed this last year, shame ill miss it. polariz, give me a shout if your interested.

Consey

Weather forecast looks pretty horrendous for Sat morn. Reminiscent of WW200 last year. Just great.

MediaMan

I'm registered. Thinking of pulling out if the weather is as bad as forecast, but maybe I'll tough it out.

seamus

Well you can't pull out now that you've admitted it

The weather isn't going to be that bad. It'll be overcast with little sunshine by the looks of it. Chilly but not freezing - lows of 7 degrees all day, and any rain will be very light, 1mm or less. Nothing like the WW200.
The wind will be your friend, it'll be either assisting you or neutralised for both climbs of the mountain and will be at your back for the descent. It will be a little bit of a drag up to the climb though as you'll be fighting the wind.

Overshoes are a must as well as a light rainjacket that you can slip on and off.

Planet X

Forecast looks bad alright.
Summer cancelled again?

MichealD

seamus wrote: »

Well you can't pull out now that you've admitted it

The weather isn't going to be that bad. It'll be overcast with little sunshine by the looks of it. Chilly but not freezing - lows of 7 degrees all day, and any rain will be very light, 1mm or less. Nothing like the WW200.
The wind will be your friend, it'll be either assisting you or neutralised for both climbs of the mountain and will be at your back for the descent. It will be a little bit of a drag up to the climb though as you'll be fighting the wind.

Overshoes are a must as well as a light rainjacket that you can slip on and off.

I much prefer this weather forecast!

086Jazzy

for anybody interested, a friend and I both entered the 100km event. he is unable to participate now and his entry is available for sale. if anybody is interested, feel free to contact me. I'll be there on the morning!

seamus

MichealD wrote: »

I much prefer this weather forecast!

There's even been a slight upgrade. The morning will be pretty much exactly like today - cold, overcast and spitting rain (like the start of the WW200 last year but colder). The rain will clear off completely around midday and we may even see some sunshine poke through now and again.

Still going to be cold though. And the roads will be wet from overnight rain. So overshoes and a rear mudguard are well advised.

Planet X

Unfortunately, I'm out. Daughter competing in Santry Stadium tomorrow morning, Leinster Schools Athletics finals or something.
Starting to get stale now. Bring on the sunny weather next week. Predicted.

macadam

Cant make this tomorrow if anyone is in need of a free entry just PM me.

g0g

I hope these cry-offs aren't all weather-related!!!

Met.ie 18:00 Leinster Update

Saturday will be mainly cool and cloudy again. The day will start damp with outbreaks of rain or drizzle in all areas in the morning. However, long dry intervals will develop late in the morning and during the afternoon, as the rain and drizzle dies away. Brighter spells will develop later in the afternoon also. Highs of 10 to 13 Celsius with light to moderate northeasterly breezes.

ROK ON

Suspicious lack of backbone by some folk.

Just sayin.

MichealD

Event sign on sheets are in surname order so remember that when you are swopping entries. Maybe print out the entry confirmation and bring with you to avoid confusion.

MichealD

The rain and drizzle will continue overnight in the south and east, slowly clearing away northeastwards. Lowest temperatures tonight of 4 to 7 degrees in light to moderate northeast winds.



Tomorrow

It will be a cloudy start tomorrow with some patchy light rain and drizzle across the south and east, but brighter weather will gradually develop for all areas in the afternoon and evening. Highest temperatures of 10 to 14 degrees in moderate northeast winds, which will ease later in the evening.



Better update from Met Eireann. Absolutely lashing here at the moment though!

Consey

I'll break out the sunblock so ! Well maybe not but lookin forward to this now even though it's an early start to get down from Dublin.

MichealD

All set for tomorrow. Descent off Mount Leinster is good surface wise but fast and bumpy. Take care if wet especially and over the 2 cattle grids. Just to make things interesting seems to be a lot of loose horses on the mountain this year!

40 loaves of sandwiches, 1000 cocktail sausages and a mountain of home baked scones, breads, muffins & cakes in Kiltealy foodstop. And the bar will be open and the rugby match on at the GAA club at the finish!

The tax man

Bike ready,gear ready.All I need now is the knees to play ball tomorrow and I'll be a happy camper.:)

macadam

ROK ON wrote: »

Suspicious lack of backbone by some folk.

Just sayin.

Would a family bereavement be a valid enough excuse ??
Enjoy your spin..

andy69

All done! That was one tough day! Well done to organisers, very well set up, plenty of marshals etc. And the food stop....the stuff of legends! ;-)
And not a drop of rain all day....and a tailwind up mt Leinster...both times.wow!

086Jazzy

Well done to everybody, especially the organisers. fantastic day. leg's a bit sore thanks to Corabut but the fantastic food stops made up for any pain encountered.

g0g

Just in the door. Great day out and so glad the rain held off! Food was AMAZING at the food stop and a well organised event I must say - nice hat too, right colour for Poznan!:) Sadly my friends bailed and did 100km instead, but after the food stop I joined a big group for 10-15km which helped a lot! Very glad the second trip up Mt Leinster took a different route so I got to try out another climb around there. Absolutely loved the descent both times - first time to test out a descent on the road bike. Banjaxed now must sleep!

Thanks to all organisers!

Strava Link

The tax man

Thanks to SCC for putting on another superb event. Odd day in the saddle for me, after joining up with Astramonti and Emty for a while and feeling quite good, the legs started to scream enough after 30k. Spent the next 70k holding off the onset of cramps in every part of me from the waist down. Thank god for that tailwind up to the nine stones but after a bone chilling decent every direction towards the food stop seemed to have a headwind.
After a nice hot coffee and some sambos I hit the road back to base and again grateful of the favourable wind.

seamus

Nice day for it alright, I was feckin roasting at the top of Mount Leinster in the fog, was very close.

It's quite a long aul trip around before you even get to the climbing

I was suffering quite a bit after the first loop. It was a real drag back to Kilteal, my legs were sore and tired even though I had plenty of energy. A couple of times I seriously considered just going back to base after the stop and doing the 100, but then I know I'd be kicking myself. Second loop was painful, very slow climbing, legs were aching all the way. The joy when I got picked up by a group just outside Kilteal and I got a stupidly fast tow home.
I've a couple of weeks now with party weekends, so I should be well rested for the WW200.

Food stop was epic. Words cannot express my joy at receiving a proper brew of tar in a real mug. I was tempted to just stay there drinking tea for the rest of the day. The spread was fantastic too.

Marshalling was very good, only two gripes:
- There was no marshall in Bagnelstown at the T-junction. I was near the lead of a group of about 40 so there was nearly a pile up trying to get everyone to stop for traffic
- The right turn from the descent off the Corrobut (nine stones?) was ridiculously slippy. They had mentioned that it was easy to miss the turn, but if anyone had taken it at any kind of speed, they would have hit the deck. A marshall a little further up the descent would have solved that.

Met a few who recognised the boards jersey, but apart from sy who had a quick chat as he blasted past me up mount Leinster, I didn't catch anyone's names. So guy in Blanch gear and guy who has just moved to ballinastoe - good to meet you

Strava (holy crap I bleedin hammered that descent the second time )

seamus

Oh and fair play to the guy in blue bianchi jersey. Spinning up the climbs like they weren't even there. Epic riding today.

Leroy42

Great day. Well organised, good carparking, good atmosphere at the start, great food, loads of marshalls, tough course but loads of encouragement.

Well done to all involved in orgainsing and well done for the pacesetting for the long distance to the 1st climb, savage pace.

Fair old trip up and down from Dublin but defo worth it.

Even the weather played its part (although it a bit depressing that we are thankful for that sort of weather in mid May!)

gimmeaminute

seamus wrote: »

Oh and fair play to the guy in blue bianchi jersey. Spinning up the climbs like they weren't even there. Epic riding today.

I'm taking a screenshot of that and sending it to my mother.

Thanks to all at SCC, great day.

AstraMonti

Really enjoyable day out and great organization from the club. The food stop was amazing, I overstuffed my face with sandwiches, sausages (what a brilliant idea!) and cup cakes and had a proper cup of tea. I took it very handy all day as legs were quite tired from Thursday's racing but after the food stop I found a different pair of legs and flew up (or want to think I did) the second climb. I hit 98km/h the first time going down, but for some reason my garmin says max 98 though it only says I reached 65 in the graph, but I was going at least 75 for a while and saw 80 too, checked it twice. Time for a new garmin me thinks :pac:

g0g

AstraMonti wrote: »

I hit 98km/h the first time going down

:eek::eek::eek:
You must have balls of steel or a death wish!! I almost got to 80 despite it being slightly wet, the surface not being great and my glasses a bit misted up...and thought that was fast. I cannot imagine adding nearly another 20km/h to that!

Consey

seamus wrote: »

Nice day for it alright, I was feckin roasting at the top of Mount Leinster in the fog, was very close.

It's quite a long aul trip around before you even get to the climbing

I was suffering quite a bit after the first loop. It was a real drag back to Kilteal, my legs were sore and tired even though I had plenty of energy. A couple of times I seriously considered just going back to base after the stop and doing the 100, but then I know I'd be kicking myself. Second loop was painful, very slow climbing, legs were aching all the way. The joy when I got picked up by a group just outside Kilteal and I got a stupidly fast tow home.
I've a couple of weeks now with party weekends, so I should be well rested for the WW200.

Food stop was epic. Words cannot express my joy at receiving a proper brew of tar in a real mug. I was tempted to just stay there drinking tea for the rest of the day. The spread was fantastic too.

Marshalling was very good, only two gripes:
- There was no marshall in Bagnelstown at the T-junction. I was near the lead of a group of about 40 so there was nearly a pile up trying to get everyone to stop for traffic
- The right turn from the descent off the Corrobut (nine stones?) was ridiculously slippy. They had mentioned that it was easy to miss the turn, but if anyone had taken it at any kind of speed, they would have hit the deck. A marshall a little further up the descent would have solved that.

Met a few who recognised the boards jersey, but apart from sy who had a quick chat as he blasted past me up mount Leinster, I didn't catch anyone's names. So guy in Blanch gear and guy who has just moved to ballinastoe - good to meet you

Strava (holy crap I bleedin hammered that descent the second time )

Seamus, Guy in Blanch Wheelies gear was me ! Good to meet you too, over the 60km or so prelude to the first ascent to the Corrabutt Gap !

Last I saw of you was I think on the sharp turn right on the killer gradient just after the turn of the main road. Then you disappeared into the clouds ahead of me !!! Impressive turn of pace up that hill. Completed the second climb in company of another Boards.ie and another chap and we more or less stayed together (being towed along by Waterford Cycling Club) for the run back home.

Must echo all the plaudits on the organisation of the event. Very friendly club and nice set up at Starlights GAA club at Enniscorthy. Ideal for the numbers involved.

Plaudits too for keeping the numbers at 300 visitors - thereby keeping queues manageable. Other higher profile sportives (particularly those with a lot of hills in a county just to the North of Wexford/Carlow) should take note ! Must be tempting to go for the extra cash - but this event achieves the balance brilliantly.

The food stop was indeed legendary. Have never seen the likes. Tables groaning with food and good tea etc. All homemade and delicious and just what doctor ordered.

Does make it difficult to motivate yourself to go out and get back on the bike though - woulda been nice to sit there munching for an hour and then just cruise back into Enniscorthy.

Well done Slaney Cycle Club and all those who took part. Here's to next year.

sy

First time for me and first Sporive in over 2 years. Very enjoyable and well organised. Climbs were steeper than I expected and was undergeared, needed a 27 (and a new engine!) Nice to meet seamus for first time (like the helmet) but didnt meet up wih any other boardsies. That descent off Mt Leinster was fast and special kudos to leroy42 on your stats on Strava.... Impressive. I rode in the front group to base of climb were you the guy in blue or the guy who rode on his own 20m in front of us!!

Leroy42

sy wrote: »

First time for me and first Sporive in over 2 years. Very enjoyable and well organised. Climbs were steeper than I expected and was undergeared, needed a 27 (and a new engine!) Nice to meet seamus for first time (like the helmet) but didnt meet up wih any other boardsies. That descent off Mt Leinster was fast and special kudos to leroy42 on your stats on Strava.... Impressive. I rode in the front group to base of climb were you the guy in blue or the guy who rode on his own 20m in front of us!!

A positive mention on Boards..almost makes all the pain worth it!
I was wearing the Liberty Seguros light blue top, it was a DSS (or something similar) guy off the front. 1st time riding down there so wasn't sure what to expect on the climb so happy to have kept it going.
Found the 'flat' section between the climbs really difficult, but the descent was great.
Looking at Strava it seems it was a day for fast times

King Kelly

Photos from Ciaran Fallon now up here

http://cfphoto.photoshelter.com/gallery/Slaney-CC-Mount-Leinster-Sportif/G0000rfdHf05vX.c/

gimmeaminute

King Kelly wrote: »

Photos from Ciaran Fallon now up here

http://cfphoto.photoshelter.com/gallery/Slaney-CC-Mount-Leinster-Sportif/G0000rfdHf05vX.c/

Wow, that guy really doesn't seem to want my money.

Aquos76

gimmeaminute wrote: »

Wow, that guy really doesn't seem to want my money.

What do you mean? I've been on to that chap a few times and always found him very decent and easy to deal with.

Toblerone1978

Another great event by the Slaney CC boys. Saturday was a reminder to why this is one of my favourites on the cycling calendar - a great cycle, excellent organisation, food stop etc

Really like the hat they included in their goodie bag. And the rain that never came was very nice.

Although I did get a bit lazy and decided to do the 100km route; so this year I definitely didn't burn more calories that I took in

Thanks lads.

King Kelly

Another 200+ photos uploaded here! http://pix.ie/LiamR